GEOSCIENCE CANADA Volume 32 Number 2 June 2005 65

ARTICLE
Emerald and Aquamarine
Mineralization in Canada
Lee A. Groat1, Craig J.R. Hart2, Lara
L. Lewis2, and Heather L.D.
Neufeld1
1Dept. of Earth and Ocean Sciences,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
BC, V6T 1Z4
2Yukon Geological Survey, Government of the
Yukon, Box 2703 (F-3), Whitehorse, YT,
Y1A 2C6
SUMMARY
This paper reviews the geology, mineral-
ogy, and origin of the gem varieties of
beryl, including emerald (green) and
aquamarine (blue); it focuses on western
Canada, especially the Yukon Territory,
because this is where most of the recent
discoveries have been made. However,
emerald occurrences in Ontario are also
considered, including Canada's first
reported discovery in 1940. Beryl
(Be3Al2Si6O18) is relatively common and
spatially associated with granites and
granitic pegmatites, but emerald is rare
because trace amounts of Cr and/or V
are required (to replace Al in the crystal
structure) and these elements generally
do not occur in sufficient concentrations
in granitic rocks. The geological condi-
tions needed to bring Be into contact
with Cr and/or V are briefly discussed,
as are the factors to consider and tech-
niques to use in exploring for gem-quali-
ty beryl.
SUMMAIRE
Le présent article traite de la géologie, de
la minéralogie et de l’origine de variétés
gemmifères de béryl (vert), dont l’émer-
aude et l’aigue-marine (bleue). Il traite
principalement de l’Ouest canadien, par-
ticulièrement du Territoire du Yukon,
région où la plupart des découvertes ont
eu lieu. Toutefois, des découvertes faites
en Ontario sont aussi considérées, inclu-
ant la première au Canada, en 1940. Le
Béryl (Be3Al2Si6O18) est relativement
commun et associé aux granites et aux
pegmatites granitiques, mais l’émeraude
est rare parce qu’elle nécessite le rem-
placement de l’Al dans la structure
cristalline du béryl par du Cr et/ou du V,
et ces éléments ne se retrouvent
généralement pas dans en concentrations
suffisantes dans les roches granitiques.
Les facteurs géologiques nécessaires
pour que le Be et le Cr et/ou le V soient
mis en contact font l’objet de discussion,
tout comme les facteurs à considérer et
les techniques à employer dans l’explo-
ration de gisements de béryls gem-
mifères.
INTRODUCTION
Beryl, Be3Al2Si6O18, is a common, rock-
forming cyclosilicate mineral, generally
occuring within granites and granitic
pegmatites. Gem varieties of beryl
include emerald (green), aquamarine
(blue), red beryl, goshenite (colourless),
heliodor (yellow), and morganite (pink
or peach). Of these, emerald is the
most prized, and can be worth more
than US$100,000 per carat. The colour
of emerald reflects the trace amounts of
Cr and/or V replacing Al in the crystal
structure; it may be diminished by the
presence of Fe which can add a greyish
tint (Walton, 2004). Emerald is rare
because Be and Cr are generally insolu-
ble, and the geological conditions need-
ed to bring Be into contact with Cr
and/or V are, typically, incongruous.
There is debate over the differ-
ence between emerald and green beryl
(see Conklin, 2002, and Schwarz and
Schmetzer, 2002). However, a definition
that appears to be attaining broad
acceptance is that of Schwarz and
Schmetzer (2002): “emeralds are yellow-
ish green, green or bluish green, natural
or synthetic beryls, which reveal distinct
Cr and/or V absorption bands in the
red and blue-violet ranges of their
absorption spectra.”
There are many classification
schemes for emerald deposits. Most
recently, Schwarz et al. (2002) and
Grundmann (2002) divided emerald
deposits into the following categories:
pegmatites without schist, pegmatite and
greisen with schist, schists without peg-
matites, and black shales with veins and
breccias. Most emerald deposits, and all
of those described in this paper (with
the possible exception of the Lened
property) belong to the first three class-
es. The “black shale” category is typi-
fied by the Colombian deposits where
emerald occurs in calcite + dolomite +
pyrite ± albite veins in black shales and
related rocks. In this type of deposit,
the emerald is considered to have
formed because of the thermochemical
reduction of mesothermal brines by
organic-rich black shales, which is effec-
tive at releasing Be, V, and Cr into solu-
tion. This model has most recently been
espoused by Giuliani et al. (2000).
Recent discoveries of emerald in
northwestern Canada have led to
increased exploration expenditures; for
example, in 2003, approximately 30% of
exploration expenditures (>$3.5M) in
 66

the Yukon Territory were directed

toward emerald exploration (mostly at
True North Gem Inc.’s Tsa da Glisza
property). Although it is uncertain if
any of the existing properties will
become producers, given the size of the
Canadian land mass, the low population
density, the diverse geology, and the
(until recently) low level of exploration
for coloured gems, there will almost cer-
tainly be more discoveries. This paper
reviews the geology, mineralogy, and ori-
gins of the existing properties and sug-
gests strategies for future exploration. It
focuses on western Canada, especially
the Yukon Territory because this is the
location of most recent discoveries and
exploration efforts.

REGIONAL FRAMEWORK
Beryl occurrences in Canada are mostly
associated with either Archean peg-
matites in the Canadian Shield or
Mesozoic/Cenozoic granitoids in the
Figure 1. Map of Canada showing the occurrences described in the text and the Cordilleran. The late Archean Superior
Western Canadian Beryl Belt. The blue and green hexagons represent aquamarine and Slave provinces host several exam-
and emerald showings, respectively. ples of rare-element (i.e., beryllium)
bearing pegmatites (Breaks et al., 2003;
Tomascak et al., 1994). The pegmatites
in the Superior Province are associated
with S-type peraluminous granites and
leucogranites which include the post-col-
lisional Ghost Lake batholith (see below)
and Separation Rapids pluton (~2650
Ma; U-Pb/monazite; Larbi et al., 1999).
In the Cordillera, Legun (2004)
compiled information on all known
beryl occurrences in British Columbia
and produced a map showing a “beryl
belt” running the length of the eastern
side of the province, with a “principal
area of emerald potential” in the north-
central part of the province, extending
to the B.C.–Yukon border (Fig. 1).
Legun’s “beryl belt” corresponds to the
terranes that underlie the Omineca belt
and the bordering eastern margin of the
Intermontane belt, where Mesozoic and
Cenozoic granite intrusions and associat-
ed pegmatites cut tectonic slices of
ultramafic and oceanic rocks (Legun,
2004). In this paper, the belt is extended
northward to encompass beryl occur-
rences in the Yukon Territory and it is
referred to as the “Western Canadian
Beryl Belt” or WCBB. The WCBB’s
eastern and northern boundaries mostly
follow the margins of the Selwyn Basin,
which is also the limit of Cretaceous
Figure 2. Map of the Yukon Territory showing occurrences described in the text. granitoids; its western boundary is just
 GEOSCIENCE CANADA Volume 32 Number 2 June 2005 67

west of the Tintina Fault and is domi- Cretaceous (Murphy, 2004). The emerald mineralization is the chlorite-
nated by the Yukon-Tanana Terrane but Yukon-Tanana Terrane rocks are intrud- plagioclase schist that forms part of the
jogs as far west as the Teslin Fault in ed by several granite intrusions (ca. 112 Fire Lake Formation (DF unit of
southern Yukon to encompass beryl to 100 Ma) of the Cassiar-Anvil plutonic Murphy et al., 2002). Geochemical
occurrences associated with plutons in suite, one of which underlies the Tsa da analyses show that the schist is a high-
the Cassiar Terrane. The Tintina Fault is Glisza property. The Tintina Fault lies Ca boninite (high-Mg andesite to basalt).
a large, through-going, dextral strike-slip 14 km southwest of the property; The Cr in the emerald is most likely
fault with significant (430 km) displace- faults, possibly related to the Tintina from the schist which has an average Cr
ment that is mostly early Cenozoic (D.C. fault, run through the Finlayson Lake content of 960 ppm. Medium-grained,
Murphy, pers. comm. 2004). district. Both the mafic schists of the foliated metavolcanic rocks also of
Fire Lake Formation, and the boninitic composition are closely
TSA DA GLISZA, YT Cretaceous granitic rocks, will be dis- interfingered with the mafic schist, and
In 1998, W. Wengzynowski discovered cussed here in detail. are known to host mineralization.
emerald at Tsa Da Glisza (“green The main host rock for the Variably serpentinized Devonian mafic
stones” in the Kaska language; formerly
Regal Ridge) in the southeastern Yukon
Territory (61° 16.6´ N, 130° 35.5´ W,
NTS 105G/7; Figs. 1 and 2). The geol-
ogy, mineralogy, and origin of the occur-
rence are described in Groat et al.
(2002), Marshall et al. (2003), Neufeld
(2004), and Neufeld et al. (2003, 2004).
The mineralization is associated with
quartz-tourmaline veins and aplite dykes
that intrude mafic metavolcanic rocks of
the Yukon-Tanana Terrane. Pale green
to green-blue to “emerald green” beryl
crystals up to 4 cm in length occur in 12
mineralized zones within a 900 x 900 m
area (Fig. 3 top). Chromium (average
3208 ppm) is the predominant chro-
mophore (Fig. 4). Some of the smaller
crystals, and sections of larger crystals,
are gem-quality, and a number of small
gems (up to 2.4 ct) have been fashioned
from the Tsa da Glisza samples (Fig. 3
bottom). The property currently
belongs to True North Gems Inc.
The Yukon-Tanana Terrane in
the Tsa da Glisza area is mainly com-
posed of pre-Late Devonian quartz-rich
metaclastic and carbonate rocks, and
Devonian and Mississippian metavol-
canic and metaplutonic rocks, which are
inferred to have formed in a continental
magmatic arc (Mortensen and Jilson,
1985; Mortensen, 1992; Murphy and
Piercey, 2000) and back-arc settings
(Piercey et al., 2000). The oldest rocks
are in the pre-Late Devonian to earliest
Mississippian Grass Lakes succession.
The Fire Lake Formation, composed
mainly of chloritic phyllite of mafic
metavolcanic composition (Murphy et
al., 2002), is the second oldest
Formation within the succession, and
hosts the emerald mineralization at Tsa
da Glisza. The rocks were thrust onto Figure 3. (top) An emerald-bearing “pocket” at Tsa da Glisza (soup spoon for
the North American miogeocline scale). (bottom) Faceted stones from Tsa da Glisza; the largest weighs approximate-
between Late Triassic and the earliest ly 0.5 ct. Both photographs are courtesy of True North Gems Inc.
 68
and ultramafic intrusive rocks (Dum and
Dmi units of Murphy et al., 2002) occur
in the western and northern parts of the
map area. The ultramafic and mafic
intrusive rocks are cut by very few
quartz veins and have not been found to
host beryl or emerald.
The emerald occurrence is
underlain (at a depth of at least 300 m)
by a 112 Ma two-mica (biotite >> mus-
covite) granite pluton, which crops out
within 500 m to the east and south of
the mineralized area. The pluton
belongs to the Anvil plutonic suite of
112-100 Ma felsic intrusions (Mortensen
et al., 2000). It is weakly foliated to
unfoliated and has shallowly dipping
contacts. Geochemical results (Neufeld
et al., 2003) confirm that the pluton is
an evolved peraluminous S-type granite
(low in Eu and Lu, rich in Li, F, and W).
Although the Be content of the granite
(9.8-13.2 ppm) is not anomalously high,
the close proximity and the consistent
correlation of Be with Sn, W, and Bi in
the geochemical data (whole-rock and
soils) indicate that it is the source of the
Be. Numerous aplitic leucogranite dykes
ranging from 40 cm to 5 m in width,
occur on the property, mostly within the
schist. At least two Eocene feldspar
porphyry dykes or sills intrude Tsa da
Glisza, and appear to have followed the
Table 1: Beryl occurrences and associated granitoids in the Yukon and western Northwest Territories.
Pluton Age Mineralization
Occurrence Pluton
(Ma)
Pluto Pluto 73 and 60
Emerald Lake Emerald 95
Kalzas not exposed 91
True Blue Guano 350
Regal Ridge 112
Ice Lakes Cassiar 101
JC Seagull 101
Logtung Logtung 58
Lened Lened 93
LNPG not exposed? 81
Notes: *www.geology.gov.yk.ca/minfile/ and www.nwtgeoscience.ca/normin
same planes of weakness as the aplite icant variation in the mineral chemistry
dykes. of emeralds associated with quartz veins,
Quartz veins are abundant which may indicate that the mineralizing
throughout the property and most fluid was relatively homogeneous.
appear to be related to Cretaceous However, there is a general trend of
deformation of the country rocks. Early decreasing substitution of Al in beryl
veins are typically thin, foliation-parallel, (primarily by Mg and Fe) from east to
sulfide-rich, and contain no tourmaline. west and with decreasing altitude.
All other quartz veins are associated Lithium, F, and Sn concentrations
with at least some tourmaline, either increase in the schist in the alteration
within the veins or in the vein selvages. envelopes of mineralized quartz veins
When in association with beryl and/or but are low within the veins, and Be, W,
emerald, the tourmaline is dravite to and Bi concentrations peak within the
uvite, otherwise it is schorl. The degree veins or less commonly in the immediate
of alteration surrounding the veins vein selvages. Beryllium concentrations
varies from none to metre-wide hori- can vary by as much as 300 ppm over a
zons of rusty-weathering schist. This distance of 1 m along an individual vein.
rustiness likely reflects weathering of The Tsa da Glisza emerald
finely disseminated sulfides (especially occurrence best fits the magmatic-
pyrrhotite) that are commonly present in hydrothermal genetic model (e.g., Barton
the alteration zones adjacent to the and Young, 2002). The 39Ar-40Ar and
veins. U-Pb geochronology confirms that min-
Emerald is found associated with eralization occurred synchronous with
veins in several different orientations. regional deformation and metamor-
Mineralization appears to be particularly phism related to intrusion of the granite
well developed in the areas of intersec- pluton from approximately 112 to 108
tion between veins. Emerald occurs Ma (Neufeld et al., 2004). In particular,
most commonly along the margins of mineralization was syn- to late-tectonic,
quartz veins, but is also found within the coinciding with the waning stages of
quartz veins themselves, and in highly granite emplacement. The temperature,
altered zones within the schist that based on the quartz-tourmaline geother-
extend past the veins and are interpreted mometer of Kotzer et al. (1993), was
to be fluid pathways. There is no signif- 365-498 ºC (Marshall et al., 2003). Some
Type of MINFILE/
Suite Other References
Age (Ma) Granitoid NORMIN*
67 Prospector Mtn alkalic 116B/134
Tombstone alkalic 115O/9
Tombstone? ? 105M/66
??? Pelly Mtn alkalic 105F/81
109 Cassiar peraluminous 105G/147 Groat et al. (2002)
Cassiar peraluminous Groat et al. (1995)
Seagull peraluminous 105B/40
metaluminous? 105B/39
Marshall et al.
Tungsten peraluminous 105ISE3
(2004)
105ISE15,
Tungsten? peraluminous Groat et al. (2003)
25, 50-56
 GEOSCIENCE CANADA Volume 32 Number 2 June 2005 69

of the emerald-bearing veins have been were discovered at the Lened property underwent three major episodes of
affected by late deformation as evi- in the late 1970s. The occurrence is deformation. The sedimentary package
denced by the presence of fractures and located north of the Yukon–NWT bor- in the area of the Lened property con-
secondary fluid inclusions in emerald der, 55 km northwest of the town of sists of three major unconformable suc-
and micro-boudinage of tourmaline Tungsten in the Logan Mountains (128° cessions. The oldest comprises siliciclas-
grains within vein quartz. At least two 40´ W, 62º 22´ N, NTS 105I/7; Figs. 1 tic rocks of the Vampire Formation
of the aplite dykes contain beryl or and 2). The regional and property geol- (Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian),
emerald, which supports the hypothesis ogy was described most recently by which locally consists of a rusty-weath-
that there is a genetic link between the Gordey and Anderson (1993) and ering phyllitic shale that is grey on fresh
granite intrusion, aplite and pegmatite Glover and Burson (1987). The occur- surface and, in places, calcareous.
bodies, and beryl-bearing quartz veins rence is located on the eastern margin of Above this is the Rabbitkettle Formation
(Neufeld, 2004; Neufeld et al., 2003, the Selwyn Basin, which consists of (Cambro-Ordovician), which in the area
2004; Fig. 5). The aplite and quartz deformed and weakly metamorphosed of the emerald-bearing veins is a
vein geochemistry suggest that Be was Neoproterozoic to Devonian- dolomitic limestone. Overlying, and in
carried within the mineralizing fluids as Mississippian sedimentary rocks inter- thrust fault contact with, the
fluoride and hydroxide complexes. preted as a continental terrace wedge Rabbitkettle Formation are black shales
Chromium entered the fluid system along the western margin of the North and black cherty siltstones of the Earn
through interaction of the Be-bearing American Craton. The basin is separat- Group (Portrait Lake Formation).
fluids with either hydrothermal fluids ed from the craton by a major tectonic These rocks are fine grained and weath-
that had percolated through the host flexure known as the Redstone arch. er a rusty brown. Locally, they are cut
and extracted Cr, or via element Plutonism is widespread in this segment by many minor faults and thrusts and
exchange during metasomatic alteration of the basin, and it varies from stocks to bedding generally trends northeast-
of the vein selvages by the mineralizing batholiths; compositions range from southwest. Folding on the scale of a
fluids. Oxygen and H isotopic data diorite to high-silica granite. In the few hundred metres can be observed in
show evidence of isotopic mixing vicinity of the study area, the intrusions the valley walls.
between the schist and intruding fluids are late Early Cretaceous. Prior to All of these units were intruded
for the beryl-bearing veins, whereas non- Cretaceous magmatism, the region by the Lened quartz monzonite stock
mineralized veins show no evidence for
mixing and are likely increasingly
hydrothermal in origin. Beryl crystalliza-
tion may have been triggered by several
factors: (1) mixing with cooler
hydrothermal fluids; (2) crystallization
of tourmaline, which would have
removed B and possibly some Li and F
from the fluids and/or lowered the alu-
minum activity of the fluids, all of
which would have resulted in a reduced
solubility of Be in the fluid (cf. London
and Evensen, 2002); (3) an increase in
the Ca content of the fluids by interac-
tion with the host schist; (4) an increase
in host-rock permeability or porosity
reflecting either rock type differences or
fracture propagation related to deforma-
tion accommodating cooling of the
granite pluton below; (5) precipitation
of lepidolite within the vein selvage,
removing F (ligand) and Li (buffer) from
the fluids; or (6) simply because of
decreases in pressure and/or tempera-
ture. Likely all of these factors played
some role in initiating beryl precipita-
tion, particularly where mineralization is
contained within highly altered vein sel-
vages.

LENED, NT
Figure 4. Triangular diagram of Cr2O3-FeO-V2O3 weight percentages from analy-
Transparent pale-green emerald crystals ses of emerald.
 70
Figure 5. Proposed genetic model for the emerald mineralization at Tsa da Glisza
(after Neufeld, 2004). Hexagons represent emeralds.
that has been dated at 93 ± 1 Ma, using
K-Ar on biotite (Gordey and Anderson,
1993). The stock is quasi-concentrically
zoned from a central fine-grained core,
through a dominant megacrystic phase,
to a peripheral equigranular margin.
Metamorphic aureoles around the
granitic rocks are estimated to extend on
the order of 1 km from the granitic
rocks (Gordey and Anderson, 1993).
Figure 6. Emerald crystal from the Lened occurrence, Northwest Territories. The
crystal is about 2 cm in length.
Emerald at the Lened emerald
showing is hosted by quartz-carbonate
veins developed within a skarn assem-
blage. The veins (2-30 cm wide) extend
perpendicularly from the thrust fault
across the skarn and pinch out in overly-
ing rhythmically bedded limestone. The
black shale footwall unit is devoid of
emerald mineralization. The emerald is
intergrown with quartz and calcite adja-
cent to the wallrock and concentrations
are highest near vein-fault intersections.
The veins are surrounded by a 5- to 10-
cm-wide alteration zone that consists of
calcite, dolomite, diopside, hedenbergite,
vesuvianite, and base-metal sulfides.
Emerald crystals from Lened are typical-
ly euhedral, up to 3 cm in length and 3
mm in diameter, although the longest
crystals tend to be quite narrow. Most
of the crystals are pale green to yellow,
but some are dark grassy-green (Fig. 6).
Chemical analyses indicate that the
emerald is richer in vanadium (up to 0.5
wt.% V2O3) than in chromium (0.04
wt.% Cr2O3, Fig. 4), and that δ18O varies
greatly from 12.4 to 13.45‰. A fluid
inclusion study (Marshall et al., 2004)
suggested that the emerald crystals
formed at temperatures of 250-550 ºC
and pressures <3,700 bars.
The host skarn ranges from a
pyroxene-garnet-amphibole facies at the
fault contact with the shale, to a distal
pyroxene-garnet facies. Pyroxene and
garnet chemistries vary abruptly from
Di0.1Hd0.9 and Go0.8Gr0.2 (goldmanite
with 24 wt.% V2O3) in proximal skarn to
Di0.9Hd0.1 and Gr0.9Ad0.1 in distal skarn.
The probable source of Be is the
Lened stock. The core contains slightly
more Be (~8 ppm) than the outer zones
(~5 ppm). The probable source of the
V is the black shale, which has over
3,000 ppm V. This might suggest that
Lened belongs to the “black-shale host-
ed” category of emerald deposits but
unlike the Colombian deposits there is
no evidence that the source of the Be is
non-magmatic.
Marshall et al. (2004) suggested
that hot fluids from the cooling Lened
pluton, travelling along the thrust, pro-
duced the contact metamorphic rocks.
The calc-silicate contact metamorphic
rocks were more brittle than the sur-
rounding unmetamorphosed country
rocks. Prolonged pluton emplacement
and cooling resulted in further deforma-
tion of the country rocks with the calc-
silicate rocks behaving in brittle fashion,
and the unmetamorphosed rocks behav-
ing in a ductile fashion. This resulted in
a set of sub-parallel fractures in the con-
tact metamorphic rocks. These fractures
became conduits for hydrothermal fluids
expelled from the cooling granitic rocks,
and quartz and beryl were precipitated in
these fractures resulting in the series of
sub-parallel veins.
 GEOSCIENCE CANADA Volume 32 Number 2 June 2005 71

TRUE BLUE, YT (Rohtert et al., 2003). beryl from Brazil in which the colour is
The True Blue property is located in the Electron microprobe analyses of caused by radiation-induced colour cen-
Ketza-Seagull District of the southern the dark blue material show high con- tres that fade with prolonged exposure
Yukon Territory, within the Cassiar centrations of Fe (to 5.79 wt.% FeO), to light (Nassua et al., 1976).
Platform and southwest of the Tintina Mg (to 3.27 wt.% MgO), and Na (to The mechanism responsible for
Fault (61° 30´ N, 132° 30´ W, NTS 2.51 wt.% Na2O). The Fe concentration colour in beryl is not completely under-
105F/8, 9, 10; Figs. 1and 2). Beryl was is the highest we know of for true beryl. stood. In the case of the True Blue
discovered on the property in 1976, and The only member of the beryl family material, it almost certainly involves
aquamarine in 2003 (Rohtert et al., with more Fe is stoppaniite, which intervalence charge-transfer (IVCT)
2003). The crystals occur in a swarm of occurs in miarolitic cavities in volcanic between Fe2+ and Fe3+ cations. An
closely spaced quartz ± siderite ± fluo- ejecta at Latium, Italy, and contains up absorption spectrum of the dark blue
rite ± allanite veins that fill tension gash- to 19.30 wt.% Fe2O3 (Della Ventura et aquamarine shows that the greatest
es in a Mississippian-age (~360 Ma) al., 2000). However, stoppaniite is light absorption is when the electric vector
syenite stock. The veins range in thick- blue, probably because all of the Fe is in (E) is parallel to the c axis. This suggests
ness from 0.5 to 20 cm, and locally com- the ferric state. that the Fe atoms involved in IVCT are
prise up to 30% of the rock. The vein Although rare, dark blue aqua- arranged along (or sub-parallel to) the c
zone measures 700 × 400 m in outcrop marine crystals have also been recovered axis. However, none of the convention-
at the surface, and is exposed over an from the Ambositra beryl-columbite al sites in the beryl structure are aligned
elevation range of 100 m. Within this pegmatite in Brazil (Pezzotta, 2001). in this way. One suggestion is that the
area, more than 100 individual occur- Proctor (1984) describes the discovery blue colour reflects IVCT between Fe2+
rences have been discovered. The vein (in 1964) of eluvial dark blue aquama- cations at the Al sites and small amounts
zone is developed near the upper con- rine fragments totalling 22 kg in the of Fe3+ at the interstitial octahedral (6i)
tact of the syenite with the lower Marambaia Valley in Brazil. Proctor position, a location with sixfold (trigonal
Paleozoic pelitic and carbonate country (1984) also describes a 34.7 kg crystal prismatic) coordination that lies between
rocks. The syenite is sodic in composi- (dubbed the “Marta Rocha” crystal) the Al sites and is normally empty
tion (~8 wt.% Na2O) and contains mod- which ultimately yielded 57,200 carats of (Platonov et al., 1979). However, there
erately high concentrations of Be (to dark blue aquamarine. Other localities is no evidence of this from X-ray single-
~10 ppm), F (to ~4000 ppm), and rare- include Lone Pine, California, the Tatu crystal data. We are presently using
earth elements. mine in Brazil, and Lajes Pintada, Rio Mössbauer spectroscopy and neutron
The beryl crystals range in size Grande do Norte, Brazil. There is some single-crystal diffraction to study the
from a few mm to 5 × 2.5 cm, and in evidence that the True Blue material is cause(s) of colour in aquamarine from
colour from pale to medium green and darker than the beryl from California or the True Blue property.
from pale to dark blue (Fig. 7). Some of Brazil. “Maxixe” is a dark blue gem
the crystals, especially those occurring
with tourmaline, show a blue core and
green rim. Because of its rarity, explo-
ration efforts were focussed upon the
dark blue material; a total of 57.9 g of
material was collected from a 65 kg bulk
sample. Individual crystals from this
sample ranged up to 38 mm long and 11
mm in diameter. Five stones weighing
up to 0.82 ct have been cut to date.
According to Rohtert et al. (2003), the
colour is maintained at exceptionally
small sizes for aquamarine. The main
constraints on the size of the stones
faceted to date are the abundant frac-
tures present in the material gathered
from the surface. Microscopic examina-
tion revealed that all five stones were
also fairly heavily included, which signifi-
cantly affects their transparency (Rohtert
et al., 2003). Internal features include
fractures, “fingerprints,” growth tubes,
two-phase fluid-and-gas inclusions, and
transparent near-colourless quartz crys-
tals. One of the small stones had a sur-
face-reaching inclusion of siderite sur- Figure 7. Dark blue aquamarine with quartz and fluorite from the True Blue prop-
rounded by a thin layer of pyrrhotite erty in the Yukon Territory. The crystal is approximately 38 mm in length.
 72
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Crystals of deep-green beryl were dis-
covered in 1989 at Red Mountain (NTS
103P/13; Fig. 1), near Stewart on the
central coast of British Columbia
(Wilson, 1997). The beryl occurs as
small opaque crystals having numerous
fractures in narrow quartz-calcite-pyrite
veins cutting volcaniclastic rocks adja-
cent to a quartz-monzonite intrusion.
Electron microprobe analyses show
1612 ppm V and 1.04 wt.% FeO (aver-
age of six analyses), and no detectable
Cr.
Wilson (1997) reported on aqua-
marine from Mt. Foster (near Bennett;
NTS 104M/14?), the Horseranch Range
(near McDame; NTS 104P/24), and the
B-Q claims (near Passmore; NTS
82F/6E). He also reported that the fol-
lowing locations have produced aquama-
rine crystals which either have been cut
or could be cut into gems under 0.3 ct:
Ash Mountain (near McDame; NTS
104O/13E), Dunn peak (near Barriere;
NTS 82M/5), Skookumchuck Creek
(near Kimberley; NTS 82F/16E), and
in the Atlin and Prince George areas.
The aquamarine at Mt. Foster
occurs in miarolitic cavities containing
gem-quality fluorite, microcline,
phenacite (Be2SiO4), smoky quartz, and
topaz. The aquamarine is colourless to
light blue and the two largest stones cut
so far weighed 8.63 and 2.99 ct. The
larger stones have many inclusions, but
the smaller ones, weighing under 2 ct,
are described as virtually flawless
(Wilson, 1997). Wight (1986), describes
a light blue, slightly greenish aquamarine
from Mt. Foster (0.86 ct, rectangular
step cut) in the National Gem Collection
(maintained by the Mineral Sciences
Division of the Canadian Museum of
Nature, Ottawa).
Beryl in the Horseranch Range
occurs as euhedral crystals embedded in
granite pegmatite dykes that cross-cut
high-grade metamorphic gneiss.
Although most of the beryl is fractured
and opaque, a few transparent crystals
have been found. Cut stones are colour-
less to very pale blue; the largest at the
time of writing weighed about 1 ct
(Wilson, 1997).
At the B-Q claims, beryl occurs
with dark red garnet, smoky quartz, and
black tourmaline in miarolitic cavities in
a granite pegmatite dyke that cuts across
the foliation of a high-grade metamor-
phic gneiss (Wilson, 1997). Wilson
(1997) reports that the largest aquama-
rine crystal discovered weighed 47.2 g,
and has dimensions of 3.3 x 3.2 x 2.3
cm, but Brown (2004) suggests that
gem-quality crystals, up to 10 cm in
length, have been recovered from the
pegmatite. Cut gems are pale blue-green
and tend to have numerous parallel
planes of inclusions oriented parallel to
the c axis. According to Wilson (1997)
the largest faceted stone weighed 5.26 ct.
Brown (2004) reported two
aquamarine crystals more than 8 mm in
diameter and dozens of transparent to
translucent crystals less than 3 mm
across from the Blue Hammer showing
(west of the Kootenay River; NTS
82K/01). The beryl occurs in granite
pegmatite dykes that cut aplite dykes and
quartz monzonite of the White Creek
batholith. Brown (2004) also describes
several ice-blue aquamarine crystals, up
to 6 mm in diameter, from the OMG
claims (west of Kootenay Lake). The
crystals occur in quartz veins extending
outward from the quartz cores of peg-
matite dykes into surrounding aplite
and/or sedimentary rocks.
ONTARIO
Canada’s first emerald occurrence,
known in the literature as the Taylor 2
pegmatite, after J.G. Taylor, was discov-
ered near Dryden (49° 49.0´ N, 92°
43.7´ W, NTS 52F/15; Fig. 1) in north-
western Ontario ca. 1940 (Breaks, 1989).
The Taylor 2 pegmatite belongs to the
Mavis Lake Pegmatite Group, which is
southeast of the S-type peraluminous
Ghost Lake batholith (2685 Ma; Breaks
and Janes, 1991; Garland, 2004).
Porcellaneous white to pale green beryl
crystals, up to several cm long and 5 cm
wide, are found within a 3.5 by 1.5 km
area (Garland, 2004). The beryl is con-
centrated in two pegmatite dykes situat-
ed 340 m south of the Ghost Lake
batholith, but only the Taylor 2 peg-
matite contains emerald (Breaks, 1989).
The occurrence is found at the eastern
end of a large conformable sill of
altered ultramafic rock (peridotite;
Satterley, 1941), exposed as an E-W
trending ridge approximately 80 m long
and 10 m wide. The pegmatite, which
consists of three separate limbs, intrudes
a wide zone of chlorite schist that sits
between rusty metavolcanic biotite-
feldspar schist and the end of the ultra-
mafic sill (Garland, 2004). Most of the
beryl and emerald occurs within a “zone
of mixing” between the southern and
central limbs of the pegmatite (Garland,
2004). The “zone of mixing” consists
of relict K-feldspar crystals from the
pegmatite in a matrix of albite, biotite,
and tourmaline. The beryl occurs as
euhedral crystals up to 2.3 × 1.8 cm in
dark matrix material proximal to the
relict feldspar crystals (Garland, 2004).
Most are opaque white to pale green,
but about 10% of the crystals are emer-
ald green (Fig. 8). Electron microprobe
analyses show up to 0.47 wt.% Cr2O3,
0.05 wt.% V2O3, and 0.50 wt.% FeO
(Fig. 4). Some of the crystals contain
inclusions of very fine-grained tourma-
line or euhedral, green-blue apatite, and
some are veined by fine-grained,
equigranular apatite that is indicative of
albitic replacement (Breaks, 1989).
According to Breaks and Janes (1991)
the geologic setting at Ghost Lake is
similar to that of the Somerset Hill mine
in the Gravelotte district in South Africa,
where emerald occurs in a biotite-rich
schist at the contact between an albitic
pegmatite and a talc-chlorite schist
(Robb and Robb, 1986). This occur-
rence has also been suggested to be of
metamorphic origin.
Parsons (1934) found large crys-
tals of beryl with “amazonstone” and
rose quartz near Quadeville in Lyndoch
Township, Renfrew County (NTS
31F/6; Fig. 1). Most of the beryl is
flawed, but some parts of the crystals
are transparent and free of cracks. In
such cases a few greenish-blue aqua-
marines were cut. Three of these can
currently be found in the National Gem
Collection (3.09, 1.80, and 1.35 ct)
(Wight, 1986). Waite (1945) describes an
aquamarine from near Kearney, Butt
Township, Nipissing District ( NTS
31E/11?) weighing 2.1 ct and “flawed
but with fine colour”; this is also in the
National Gem Collection (Wight, 1986).
He further describes a 3.1 ct stone from
the Quadeville occurrence (probably the
3.09 ct stone described by Wight, 1986)
and states that “the colour and clarity of
these stones matches the best from
Brazil.”
PLUTONIC ASSOCIATIONS
Compiled information on the magmatic
associations of 12 documented beryl
occurrences in the Yukon and western
 GEOSCIENCE CANADA Volume 32 Number 2
Northwest Territories (Lewis et al.,
2003) identified some interesting com-
monality and diversity in their character-
istics (Table 1). In addition to Lened,
Tsa da Glisza, and True Blue, beryl has
been reported from (west to east) Pluto,
Kalzas, Ice Lakes, JC, Logtung, Emerald
Lake, Straw, Four Corners and the Little
Nahanni Pegmatite Group (LNPG; Fig.
2). The occurrences are related to at
least six different plutonic suites where
the plutonic ages range from 58 to 350
Ma, but most are Cretaceous (92-112
Ma). Most importantly, however, the
beryl occurrences are associated with
peraluminous, alkalic, and probable met-
aluminous granitoids. This is surprising
because most occurrences reported in
the literature are associated with peralu-
minous rocks.
Peraluminous granitoids, and
therefore their parent magmas, have a
greater proportion of Al to combined
Ca+Na+K, such that the magma cannot
accommodate the excess Al in feldspars,
but must precipitate more-enriched alu-
minous phases. Although biotite is
capable of this, other minerals such as
muscovite, garnet and cordierite are
more efficient and preferentially occur in
strongly peraluminous rocks. This excess
in Al is an important feature because
more-aluminous magmas require lower
levels of Be before reaching Be satura-
tion and therefore, are more likely to
precipitate beryl (London and Evensen,
2002).
Most beryl occurrences, particu-
larly economic beryl deposits, are in peg-
matites derived from peraluminous mag-
mas. However, the diversity observed in
the Yukon agrees with the assertion,
developed by London and Evensen
(2002) in response to their experiments
and modelling of silicate melts, that “no
one granite source rock is uniquely or
specially predetermined to produce
beryl-bearing pegmatites.” This empha-
sizes the importance of processes over
the natural source materials in develop-
ing beryl mineralization.
BERYL GENESIS
All of the previously described beryl
occurrences, and most others in Canada,
are apparently derived from a magmatic
source as suggested by an adjacent
granitic pluton, or associated dykes.
However, the typical background Be val-
ues for most granites are in the range of
2 to 10 ppm (Beus, 1966), far below the
typical levels of saturation of a few
thousand ppm Be (at 900 °C) to a few
hundred ppm Be (at 600 °C) as indicated
by London and Evensen (2002).
Beryllium is best enriched in magmas
through the process of fractional crys-
tallization whereby Be behaves incom-
patibly, is not taken up in a crystallizing
mineral phase, and is thereby enriched in
the residual melt fraction. Many high-
field strength elements, as well as halo-
gens (Cl and F) and small ions (such as
B) are also typically enriched in residual
melts, and play a role in depressing the
solidus (London et al., 1996) such that
Be enrichments continue to take place,
even at low temperatures with low per-
centages of remaining melt. Beryllium
saturation levels in melts are mostly
affected by temperature, but also
decrease with increasing alumina and sil-
ica activity (London and Evensen, 2002),
which explains the empirical association
of beryl with silica-rich peraluminous
magmas.
However, experimental work by
London and Evensen (2002) has indicat-
ed mechanisms whereby Be can be scav-
enged and therefore depleted from the
melt by specific mineral phases, includ-
ing: (1) plagioclase; Be contents peak in
plagioclase composition An30 (oligo-
clase-andesine) such that a magma crys-
tallizing this composition of plagioclase
will not increase in Be content until
more albitic plagioclase crystallizes; (2)
white mica; Be can enter the mica struc-
ture, therefore intrusions containing
white mica potentially have higher Be
contents, and are less capable of pro-
ducing subsequent high-Be melts; and
(3) cordierite; it can incorporate a large
amount of Be and garnet cannot; there-
fore, late magmas associated with gar-
net-bearing intrusions are potentially
more Be-rich. Future work on the beryl
occurrences that are not associated with
peraluminous granites might help shed
light on beryl genesis.
There is also the question of
why Be contents of the (presumed)
parental granitoids at Lened, Tsa da
Glisza, and True Blue are not exception-
al. Again, London and Evensen (2002)
state, “It may seem logical that, as likely
sources of the beryl-rich pegmatitic
melts, these granites are themselves
depleted in Be and other incompatible
components.” This might suggest,
June 2005 73
counter-intuitively, that exploration
efforts should focus on low-Be grani-
toids.
Although the magmatic process-
es of Be enrichment are important, gem
beryl occurrences are often associated
with quartz veins formed from
hydrothermal fluids that are assumed to
have been derived from a magma that
reached water-saturation. The efficacy of
partitioning of elements into an exsolv-
ing fluid from a melt is dependent on
numerous factors, including the content
of that element in the melt and the
availability and content of potential lig-
ands in the fluid phase. A good exam-
ple are the metals Zn and Pb which easi-
ly partition to the fluid phase if there is
significant Cl in the fluid. Among other
features, the common association of flu-
orite and/or F-rich mica with gem beryl
occurrences suggests that F may be an
important component of the fluid phase
in order to effectively partition Be into
the fluid.
Another factor of importance is
the mobilization of Cr. This relatively
inert metal requires extreme geological
conditions in which to make it soluble.
Most hydrothermal alteration leaves the
rock depleted in all other elements
except Cr. Such is the case with very
hot, CO2-rich fluids that form orogenic
gold deposits in ultramafic rocks where
the altered rock (listwaenite) consists of
silica, carbonate, and residual Cr which
forms green, Cr-rich micas. It may be
that low-pH fluids enriched in HF are
more effective agents at increasing the
solubility of Cr in hydrothermal fluids.
EXPLORATION
Readers interested in exploring for gem
beryl should begin with a thorough liter-
ature search, keeping in mind the geolo-
gy and diversity of the mineralization at
Tsa da Glisza, Lened, and True Blue.
Good places to start are Mulligan (1968)
and Walton (2004); the latter reference,
in particular, contains a detailed com-
pendium of material from the literature
concerning gem beryl. Information on
specific occurrences can be found in the
MINFILE and NORMIN databases, for
Yukon and NWT, respectively, although
beryl is likely more common than
reported in these databases and the
clever explorationist may consider
searching for allied characteristics such
as tourmaline, pegmatite, fluorite, scheel-
 74
ite, etc. We note that the True Blue
property was rediscovered by searching
through a private database (although the
beryl was originally misidentified as
kyanite, a sample was retained and was
later identified using X-ray diffraction).
Inspection of a terrane map of
the Yukon Territory shows that the Tsa
da Glisza occurrence is in a segment of
the Yukon-Tanana Terrane (the
“banana”) which is offset from the rest
of the Yukon-Tanana Terrane by the
Eocene displacement along the Tintina
Fault. Reconstruction of the Yukon-
Tanana Terrane would place Tsa da
Glisza in the area north of Dawson
City; therefore, the area south of the
fault in the Dawson area could be
prospective for beryl but fewer mid-
Cretaceous granitoids are found there.
The Pluto occurrence is in this locality
but is Late Cretaceous, and not related
to the same granite suite as occurrences
in the Tsa da Glisza area. It is interest-
ing to note that the Tsa da Glisza and
True Blue properties are approximately
14 km northeast and 30 km southwest
of the Tintina Fault, respectively, which
might indicate a genetic connection. In
the south-central Yukon and north-cen-
tral British Columbia, there is a cluster
of beryl occurrences (Fig. 1) that could
Figure 8. Emerald crystal from the Ghost Lake occurrence, Ontario (photo cour-
tesy of True North Gems Inc.).
be considered as a Be-rich area within
the WCBB.
Murphy et al. (2002) plotted
potential Be reservoirs (plutonic rocks,
especially the mid-Cretaceous Anvil-
Cassiar suite) and Cr and V reservoirs
(ultramafic rocks, volcanic rocks, and the
Earn Group) in the Yukon Territory and
suggested that the best place to look is
where the two come together. Murphy
et al. (2002) also plotted Regional
Geochemical Survey (RGS) data for the
Yukon Territory; they show high Cr
near Dawson City and high V close to
the Yukon-NWT border (across from
the Lened property), corresponding to
Cambrian to Silurian Marmot Formation
mafic volcanics and Earn Group rocks,
respectively. Goodfellow and Aronoff
(1988) used Landsat imagery and surfi-
cial geochemical data to search for
buried, and hence overlooked, plutons in
the western Northwest Territories, and
this might be a good approach for other
regions as well.
Lewis et al. (2003) noted that all
beryl occurrences in the Yukon Territory
are intrusion-related, but for an intru-
sion to become enriched enough to
reach Be-saturation, it must be “ultra-
fractionated”. Numerous lithological
and geochemical features (e.g., tourma-
line, Rb/Sr ratio in whole rock, K/Rb
ratio in potassic feldspar, Eu depletions)
can help pinpoint fractionated peg-
matites with elevated gemstone poten-
tial.
Companies exploring for emer-
ald in northwestern Canada have been
relying heavily on Be and Cr analyses of
stream-sediment and soil samples.
Commercial analyses utilizing rapid sin-
gle-stage digestion techniques may not
adequately dissolve the refractory miner-
al phases that typically incorporate Be
and Cr. In addition, the use of mass
spectrometry to analyse Be, which is an
extremely light element, in an analytical
package that includes numerous heavy
elements, may decrease the sensitivity of
the Be analyses. This is an untested
exploration approach for emerald explo-
ration and it will be interesting to see if
this results in any new discoveries. It is
important to note that exploration for
gem beryl could result in the discovery
of new occurrences of non-gem beryl
or other Be minerals that could become
new sources of Be and Be oxide. Most
Be is used as an alloy, metal, or oxide in
electronic and electrical components and
aerospace and defence applications.
About 60% of world production is from
bertrandite [Be4Si2O7(OH)2] ore mined
from an epithermal deposit at Spor
Mountain in Utah (Cunningham, 2004).
Granite-focussed exploration could also
result in the discovery of other com-
modities such as Au, Ag and W.
What about berylometers?
These instruments use Sb124 as a
gamma-radiation source. At least two
models are commercially available. The
most portable unit weighs 2 kg, but
requires counting times of 2-5 minutes,
and has a lower detection limit of only
0.01% BeO. The second model requires
counting times of 1-2 minutes and has a
lower detection limit of 0.003% BeO,
but weighs 17 kg! The weights, counting
times, and detection limits likely limit
their application to property studies at
best.
At the end of the day, geology
and geochemistry will dictate where to
look, but new occurrences will most
likely be discovered by careful prospect-
ing.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank Jim Mortensen, Don
Murphy, and Brad Wilson for their help-
 GEOSCIENCE CANADA Volume 32 Number 2 June 2005 75

ful comments. The authors also thank
Gaston Giuliani and John D. Greenough
for their comprehensive reviews and
Godfrey S. Nowlan for his editorial help.
Financial support was provided by the
Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada, True
North Gems Inc., and the Yukon
Geological Survey.
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Accepted as revised 14 Dec 2004